Tag Archives: academic libraries

So many citation styles

One of the most common reference questions I hear is “How do I cite this?”  Like most academic libraries, mine provides citation help on our website. Even with online tools and, in the most recent edition of Word, a click of the “References” ribbon at their fingertips, students are often unsure.

As I go over what information is included in a citation, where to find it, which style to use, and how to format it, students often ask why it’s so complicated. Which made me wonder, why are there so many styles? The humanities use MLA and Chicago, and the sciences have APA and  several more. Within styles, why are there different citation formats (mainly parenthetical and documentary, according to Plagiarism.org)?

Kerry Creelman, a librarian at University of Houston, explains that different academic disciplines place higher value on particular information about sources, which is reflected in the style formats.  Yale College Writing Center concurs but points out that even within the same field,  journals may require different citation styles.

Maybe there isn’t a compelling argument against a universal citation style.  In-text citations in the three main styles all include the author. APA also requires the publication year and page number, MLA only the page number, and Chicago only the year. Couldn’t a universal style make the source clear? Bibliographies (also known as works cited or reference lists), require similar but not identical information across styles and could easily be standardized.

Besides streamlining the research and writing process, universal citation would make it easier to cite materials across disciplines. And it would save students and researchers time and frustration. I suppose it would reduce my reference desk stats,  but I could live with that. What am I missing? Is there a good reason to have so many citation styles?

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Evil printers?

According to OED, evil (adj.) is defined as ” The antithesis of good (adj., adv., and n.) in all its principal senses” and good, when used in reference to things, means “Having in adequate degree those properties which a thing of the kind ought to have.”

So far The Nocturnal Librarian has answered zero actual reference questions in the new semester, and at least a couple dozen questions regarding printers that don’t seem to have “in adequate degree” the properties of a fuctioning printer. Hence, I am prepared to declare printers evil, at least in that sense of the word.  Along with Blackboard links that won’t open, PDF’s that freeze, and online tutorials that won’t run.

This is my second late shift at the reference desk.  I am enjoying the nocturnal life, so far.  The difference in traffic between my commute here at 7:45 pm and home again at midnight is discernable: no one veers into my lane while texting after midnight, at least not so far. And NHPR broadcasts The World Today from the BBC World Service at midnight, so I can hear what my son might sound like when he comes home from his gap year in England. 

It’s also interesting to see how many lights are on in my neighborhood at 12:40 am when I pull in (more than you’d think). And it feels a little decadent to read in the late afternoon, when I used to be working, but I think I could get used to that. I don’t fall asleep in my book at that hour, which I always did at bedtime.

I do hope students will begin to ask reference questions soon, because technical troubleshooting isn’t nearly as gratifying. Maybe I should just consider it stamping out evil instead. In which case, my colleagues in the IT department should perhaps wear superhero capes.

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